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Temu, trip to locker,
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Blog
- Hits: 61
And, the news a couple of weeks ago that my credit card had been compromised, a 2 week wait until another one arrives. I blame TEMU, from now on it will be Amazon if I need to do an online shop.
And the locker, planning a trip, I thought I had a key, turns out I don't, and so have to wait for one in the mail via my son.
I have to take some stuff to it - my Stormy Artwork, and take some from it - a proper sized parcel of buttons to sell.
After the boys visit I sorted junk out, some to the Antique shop, some 5 boxes of costume jewelry, cufflinks and scrap silver to a lady I know who wants to up-cycle it, the place, it's still crowded but the more I get rid of stuff the easier it is to let it go. Hopefully by the weekend I'll have my locker key and can begin the grand unboxing...
Things I noticed, my desk chair and a certain vintage pole-lamp, cast brass and copper, missing, the boy has probably adopted, the metal detector - gone - and where? It probably was lost in my car and got stolen by tweakers. They're thorough. Then there's a variety of smaller things, all of which could be in boxes - various antique telephones, mixed media props, some of these things no doubt got inadvertently donated to the CYPT props department, others will turn up in the grand unboxing. I was surprised to discover even more boxes of Stormy shit in the old locker, my god he was prolific, and when time permits I'll have to do some proper archiving of it all...
I've come to view possessions as trauma, the hold we allow our possessions, our past to have on the present and future creating a narrative of our life that we'd all do better to reject.
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Then there was the upstairs neighbour has gotten suddenly friendly and she's going on about how she's so done with Fred, and I take the opportunity to ask why it was I saw him leaving the police station the other day and she abruptly changes the topic...
***
Which brings us to today, a couple of late tables/deliveries the last couple of nights, otherwise work goes fine. A couple of the new girls have been disgruntled by the fact I argued to change the tipping options on the machine to 10-15-20%, in line with acceptable standards, I haven't noticed any change in my earnings but apparently they have. I find the whole predatory tipping thing reprehensible, and it was good there came a time to address it, but not everyone's a fan. Coincidentally (??) they are the same 2 waitresses that are perpetually trying to get out of shifts with imaginary ailments, sad boyfriends, etc, etc.
Virgin Mobile vs Public Mobile
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Blog
- Hits: 59
So, some 15 years with Virgin Mobile, pretty much like every relationship I've had the past 15 years proved a small masterpiece of gaslighting, manipulation and abuse.
Story as old as time.
So my phone's been paid off for a couple or three years, an S22 Ultra, it's still good although as of late I've broken the screen and will need to look at getting a replacement. But - it's served it's purpose.
Anyways, the past 3 years just paying for the plan, not the phone, $65.00 a month and unlimited text/call in Canada, 90 GB data. Rarely do I use that much data, but it's good to have just in case.
Last phone bill I wondered why it was so high. It's $85 a month, and when did the price go up $20 a month and why was I not informed?
I'm annoyed. I get online and search for better deals. And, let me tell you, there are better deals. Fizz, Public Mobile, there are others. I sign up for Public Mobile, which promises me unlimited text/call in Canada, 80 GB data that rolls over the unused data to the next month *(!!!!!) - meaning that for all intents and purposes I have unlimited data, and - all this for - ready? $35 a month. 35 fucking dollars. Virgin was charging me eighty-five.
Fuckers.
It's a no brainer, sign me up, deal with the hassle of call centres, CSR's with no training in remedial English and accents that are too thick to interpret, to the deadness of AI operators that route your call accordingly, to the looking up of old contract numbers and e-sim cards, etc, etc, but I get it done. And - to put the icing on the cake I call Virgin just to ensure they've cancelled my account.
Another thick accent, the CSR trying to persuade me that I'm on the BEST PLAN and I regretfully disagree and terminate the call.
So, on to Public Mobile.
I get a saves call yesterday from Virgin Mobile, they leave a message, loyalty, rewards, they can give me a new plan, the standard unlimited and 100 GB a month for $30....
This just angers me - it means I've been overpaying $35-$50 a month for years now.
I'm not switching. I have no illusions about Public Mobile, Telus (their carrier), they're BS as well, but - BS in a different pile and Virgin - well...they had their chance and they blew it...
They call back again. Then - today; 4 times. I imagine the saves team gets a pretty big commission from every customer they bring back to the fold.
I'm happy. This is a small victory, and a penny saved is a penny earned. And I have now a better bargaining chip when I go shopping for cell plans knowing what their margins are...
So - just a word to the wise out there - look at your phone plan, what you're paying, what you're getting, then shop around. You could be getting a much better deal...
The Reflecting Skin - 1990
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Film
- Hits: 46
This was an odd one and I'm not quite sure what prompted me. Starring a young Viggo Mortensen it tracks a young child who's come to believe his neighbour is a vampire.
In the vein of David Lynch, preposterous characters, affected dialogue (and acting), the big winner is the landscape and cinematography - set in 1950's rural Idaho but - in reality filmed in Crossfield outside Calgary. Absolutely stunning.
The rest, well, not so much.
The Enshittification of the Internet
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Rants
- Hits: 56
This was a phrase I'm pretty sure was coined by Boing-Boing, and refers to the way that everything that used to be good and fun about the internet has become shitty through the relentless pressure to have ads.
For example, YouTube used to be a content option. Now, set up a playlist and there will be an ad between every song. I've even tried listening to longer pieces, Mozart, Chopin, etc, 17 and 30 minutes symphonies, and - believe it or not, 3 or 4 minutes in I'll get an ad. And if you're not handy to your phone that ad will play for longer than the symphony...
This is peak-enshittification, make the experience so grueling that you have to buy a subscription.
Boing-Boing as of late has done much the same thing, sadly without the self-awareness that should come to a site that coined the phrase...the site, so infested with ads that you're unable to scroll without being taken to a sponsors website, on a slow connection the site - the content - takes forever to load, ads must load first (after all), and for the most part all you're getting is a rant similar to this and maybe an outward link to another site. Nothing is provided there that isn't better provided elsewhere.
And, in a masterstroke of web-understanding they now offer a subscription - $5 a month, and they'll pull the ads for you. What a bargain. The subscription option is a particularly annoying pop-over that you need to close before you can see their round-up of days news and opinion.
They've kind of proven the phrase that if you live long enough you'll see yourself become the villain...
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